Oil-field inspection firm needs more workers

July 11, 2010

An oil-field company representative said his company has plenty of work but needs more workers.

"We're short of people. We employ about 40 people in Williston and we're about 40 people short," said Don Nickerson, with sales and service for Tuboscope.

Nickerson recently spoke to members of the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce's Energy Committee at the Vegas Motel in Minot.

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Eloise Ogden/MDNDon Nickerson, with Sales and Service for Tuboscope, an oil-field inspection company, says if they had more workers they could do more work. Nickerson is shown here after speaking to the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce’s Energy Committee.

"We have tons and tons of work. We just don't have the people to get the work done," he said. He said the company's headquarters in North Dakota is in Williston and housing is a big issue there.

Tuboscope primarily is an inspection company, Nickerson said. Although its headquarters are in Williston, he said a large part of their business is to go mobile.

"As far as Minot, we don't have a facility here yet," Nickerson said. But he said Tuboscope is located in a number of other areas. Its regional office is in Casper, Wyo., and out of Casper the company has a number of satellite offices, naming sites in Wyoming and Colorado. He said it's very possible the company will expand in North Dakota and come to Minot.

He said Tuboscope is doing a lot of expansion and the company and Burdick Job Corps Center in Minot are working together.

Edna Sailor-Bergstad, of the Burdick Job Corps Center, said, "We're exploring a training and employment process between their company and our welding program."

Nickerson, who works out of Dickinson, has worked in the oil and gas industry for nearly 32 years. Originally from Denver, he said most of his time he has been in Casper, Wyo. In the early and mid-'80s, he spent time working in the Williston area. When the previous company he worked for pulled out of the Rockies in the early '90s, he went to work for Tuboscope.

Tuboscope, which works with oil companies worldwide, is a subsidiary of NOV. One of NOV's newest stores is south of Wal-Mart Supercenter in Minot, Nickerson said. NOV stands for National Oilwell Varco which Nickerson said is involved in all different aspects of drilling.

Safety is a big issue for Tuboscope, Nickerson said. "I've very happy to say our TRIR (Total Reportable Incident Rates) for the Rocky Mountain Region is, to date, zero recorded incidents. We take a lot of pride and a lot of responsibility in keeping our people safe," he said.

Of the intense interest in the Bakken and Three Forks formations in North Dakota, he said, "This is very huge, this is going to be around for a long time.

"We don't dictate the oil prices but the reserves are here," Nickerson said. "There's 20 years at least at this level of activity."